Rotary joints, also widely referred to as slip rings, are employed in many technical fields for connecting devices in which electrical signals and/or electrical power is transmitted from a stationary electrical unit to a rotating or rotatable electrical unit. For example, slip rings are employed for the operation of remote-controlled cameras, in which electrical communications, such as electrical power and signals for operating drive mechanisms for zoom regulation or pivoting are transmitted from one location to another via the slip ring. Slip rings are used with various other electrical devices, as well, such as rotatable searchlights, laser installations, and robotic components.
Conventional slip rings are made from a non-conductive mandrel over which individual conductive rings are slipped and then electrically isolated from one another, such as by slipping rubber washers or another non-conductive ring between adjacent conductive rings. Thus, many different components are needed to assemble even a relatively simple slip ring. These conventional slip rings require intricate and time-consuming steps of assembling multiple, isolated, conductive contact rings over a non-conductive mandrel to support the contact rings, and then introducing individual conductors running from the isolated contact rings to an external connection point. As the number of circuits increase, so does the number of additional components making up the assembly. In addition to consuming more raw materials, this undesirably increases the number of steps and time to assemble the slip ring, resulting in higher overall manufacturing costs.
These and other drawbacks are found in current slip rings.
What is needed is a rotary joint that has fewer individual component parts to simplify the manufacturing process and which may thereby reduce manufacturing costs.